Museum Replicas Limited

Nodachi

Overall Length:

58.5 inches

Blade Length:

40 inches

Point of Balance:

9.5 inches from guard

Weight:

3.7 lbs

Handle Length:

18 inches

Performance Review:
This is a big sword but thanks to its extremely long handle which gives the user a lot of leverage and it's relatively light weight for its extreme size it handles fairly well. This was a customer's sword so I was unable to cut with it but in dry handling it seemed to be relatively fast sword and was fairly easy to recover despite its great length.

Appearance:
The traditionalist is going to despise this sword. It has a vaguely Japanese sword look to it in that it has a Japanese style blade a small oval tsuba or guard and there the resemblance really ends. The blade exhibits none of the refinements that the true katanaphile expects, the geometries are simplified, the blade is monosteel so there is no hamon and even the cutting edge is a simple chisel grind rather then the "appleseed" edge that a true katana would have. The metal fittings at the cross and the butt of the sword are austere blackened fittings that look like they were stamped out of mild steel. The handle is wrapped in suede leather with a leather strip spiral wrapped around it.

Conclusion:
This sword does not exhibit many of the characteristics that are so important to the traditional Japanese sword enthusiast, but neither does it try to pretend it does. Rather, this sword does exactly what it was intended to do, give someone who wanted to experience the satisfaction of having one of the really big Japanese sword types... on a budget.